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Sunday, June 19, 2016

The leaders of the Boston Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue trample on the bedrock of the Nichiren faith

Let's look, ponder, and analyze the "forums, themes, and thinkers" series of the Boston Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue, as well as, SGI's peace, culture, and education videos in light of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism. Can we find one mention of Namu Myoho renge kyo, Gohonzon, or Kaiden? Can we find one instance of a remonstrance of Christianity, Provisional Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, or Judiaism? Can we find one mention of the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren Daishonin in the millions of words written and spoken?

They are putting the cart before the horse. Even a six year old is aware of the problems facing humanity. Efforts to create awareness of the problems is hardly the means to eradicating them, let alone lamenting about humanity's lack of awareness. Nichiren Daishonin teaches:

"But despite all these efforts, they merely exhaust themselves in vain. Famine and epidemics rage more fiercely than ever, beggars are everywhere in sight, and scenes of death fill our eyes. Corpses pile up in mounds like observation platforms, and dead bodies lie side by side like planks on a bridge."

Nichiren goes on to say:

"I have pondered the matter carefully with what limited resources I possess, and have looked a little at the scriptures for an answer. The people of today all turn their backs upon what is right; to a person, they give their allegiance to evil. This is the reason that the benevolent deities have abandoned the nation and departed together, that sages leave and do not return. And in their stead devils and demons come, and disasters and calamities occur. I cannot keep silent on this matter. I cannot suppress my fears."

Nichren then cites the Golden Light Sutra [referring to the Lotus Sutra]:

"The host said: There are numerous passages that could be cited and a wide variety of proofs. For example, in the Golden Light Sutra we read: “[The four heavenly kings said to the Buddha], ‘Though this sutra exists in the nation, its ruler has never allowed it to be propagated. In his heart he turns away from it, and he takes no pleasure in hearing its teachings. He neither makes offerings to it, honors it, nor praises it. Nor is he willing to honor or make offerings to the four kinds of Buddhists who embrace the sutra. In the end, he makes it impossible for us and the other countless heavenly beings who are our followers to hear this profound and wonderful teaching. He deprives us of the sweet dew of its words and cuts us off from the flow of the correct teaching, so that our majesty and strength are drained away. Thus the number of beings who occupy the evil paths increases, and the number who dwell in the human and heavenly realms decreases. People fall into the river of the sufferings of birth and death and turn their backs on the road to nirvana."

Yet, the advocates of Ikedaism council:

Dr. Ikeda recalled Dewey's assertion that it is “the religious” rather than any specific religion that is of importance and noted that “the religious” is not a species of dogma, but rather a quality that can permeate experiences of many types, including those that are aesthetic, educative, and even political. It was in this connection that Dr. Ikeda associated the long-term viability of any form of religious expression with the degree to which it is capable of balancing and harmonizing internal and external forces in ways that promote positive social change. -- Larry Hickman

"...Outwardly they will seem to be wise and good, but within they will harbor greed and jealousy. [And when they are asked to preach the teachings, they will say nothing,] like Brahmans who have taken a vow of silence. They are not true monks—they merely have the appearance of monks. Consumed by their erroneous views, they slander the correct teaching.

"When we look at the world in the light of these passages of scripture, we see that the situation is just as they describe it. If we do not admonish the evil priests, how can we hope to do good?"

"...Outwardly they will seem to be wise and good, but within they will harbor greed and jealousy. [And when they are asked to preach the teachings, they will say nothing,] like Brahmans who have taken a vow of silence. They are not true monks—they merely have the appearance of monks. Consumed by their erroneous views, they slander the correct teaching."

I moved to the Boston area in June, 1995; attended the dedication of "The Peace Research Center For The 21st Century", or was it "The Boston Research Center for Peace and Education Research", or maybe -- oh, who cares ! , this pompous center is prestigiously located near Harvard Square and was under the direction of Virginia Straus when it opened in 1995.

I joined the ranks of SGI Boston members who volunteered to support the first series of "forums, themes and thinkers"-- a short run due to our presence being a source of embarrassment for Ms. Straus, who made a point of orienting us to the differences between The Research Center and The Community Center.

Under no condition were any members permitted to discuss *the practice* with guests. Rarely were members permitted to do Gongyo or chant to the Gohonzon that was tucked away in a small room-- disconnected from the main flow of visitor traffic. We were allowed to hover in the back and watch members of the audience nodding off; we were expected to clean up after the catered buffets and no doubt, part of the plan was that we would find the whole production a waste of time. Ms. Straus replaced us volunteers with a group she personally selected, and member attendance at these elite activities declined as there was no longer a direct communication from the Center to individual districts. Ms, Straus, now Mrs. Benson was replaced by Richard Yoshimachi and the Center was re-named: Ikeda Dialogue Center --

It blends in nicely with Harvard's tax exempt, energy efficient kingdom --propelled solely by its own *hot air*.

There is absolutely nothing about the Ikeda Dialogue Center that reflects the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin-- by design, to be sure. It is another shrine to Daisaku Ikeda, the cosmopolitan , global citizen, man of letters- honors and distinction, who likewise bears no connection to the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin. other than providing the quintessential example of a modern day Ryokan.

By the way, I have admonished Virginia Straus and current Director Yoshimachi -- challenging their arrogance and rebuking their slander to the best of my ability. I am deeply concerned about the effects of this particular Ikeda Shrine-- not courageous enough to make predictions, but have no doubt that we haven's seen the worst --yet-- in Boston.